What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra is a magical state that allows not only for deep relaxation but also for an exploration of what it means to be a truly present living being. How deep can I dive into the notion of the Self? What is behind what we call “consciousness”? How much can I truly let go and surrender?
These questions are asked at the beginning of the practice, and surely, they are important. However, as one goes along with practicing and exploring what Nidra can offer, these epistemological questions tend to fall away as well. What remains? The absolute bliss state – true, unobstructed light. And this can all be experienced by simply laying down. Isn’t this wonderful? In this day and age where we run around chasing after happiness, Yoga Nidra offers a simple solution: everyone can do it, at all times, one doesn’t even need guidance.
The guidance comes when one surrenders to the infinite bliss coming from the supreme Goddess herself. From here, the manifestations of life arise and fall away, in a constant dance of co-creation. Yoga Nidra is a gift of true presence and trust.
“The origins of Yoga Nidra are lost in time immemorial, and one could also say that they are lost in the mysterious source of time itself.” (Pierre Bonasse, “Yoga Nidra Meditation”, p. 8)
Then, one is guided through a set of stages or techniques that depend on the Yoga Nidra school, the duration of the practice, and the intention itself. In Yoga Nidra, one may enter a “threshold space” – a space in-between. In this space in between one is neither fully awake nor asleep:
“The moment we choose to linger in these in-between places, we can encounter deep freedoms. When we choose to be present to the uncertainty of liminality, for example, by resting at the threshold of slept in [Yoga Nidra], we can begin to notice what was previously invisible to us, and we can recognize if to what it truly is – an openness that frees us from limits and offers up many choices and options that we could not even imagine before.” 3
It is exactly here, in this liminality, that one comes into contact with the Shakti (power) of Yoga – Yoga as a force of uniting, of bringing into awareness that which previously was unconscious in order to “awake to your essential nature.” 4 How one feels after the Yoga Nidra varies greatly, one can feel refreshed & awake or maybe also sleepy & groggy. The magic of Yoga Nidra is that it is always different, every time you enter it. This is its magic.
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